thevicenarian.com

Consumer Confidence

Posted by T.W. Hanson - Apr 27th, 2008 at 17:04

One of the economic indicators economists and Wall Street types follow is the result of a monthly University of Michigan survey on consumer confidence. The most recent report came out on Friday, April 25. It was the lowest level of the past 26 years. Many people, myself included, have no memory of an America with consumers this depressed. Even fewer have been working in the financial world when the numbers were previously this low. The uniform lack of knowing about this resulted in a muted response in the markets. We will see in the months ahead if this was appropriate.

I do not know what the direct impact of this sentiment divot means. Will people continue spending? Will companies reduce inventories? Is this only the beginning of the recession in the real economy, not just the financial sector? Will stimulus checks save us?